


By Kili's beard

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, M/M, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-18
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-25 23:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili can't grow a proper beard, and to help his brother out Fili pretends he can't either. Dwalin is not stupid and catches on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have this theory that Fili keeps his beard trimmed so Kili will think the older brother can't grow one either and feel better about his lack of beard. I also ship Dwalin really hard with just about everyone, so I'm going to put in a little bit of Dwalin/Fili, because why not. Might not be all that obvious though. Maybe just one of those "if you squint your eyes a bit" ships in this story.

The dwarf prince slowly woke up to the sound of his mother cooking in the room next to his. In an attempt to ignore the sounds, he shut his eyes and put his pillow over his head to block out the sounds. He had hoped to sleep in a little bit, as he after all had no training to be done in the morning, but his younger brother had different plans...

Fili’s bed shook as Kili jumped up on it, screaming his older brother’s name and practically ripping Fili's sheets and pillow away. The young one pointed to his own face, to something Fili could not see.  
“Look, Fili! Look!”

“I don’t understand what I am meant to-” Fili was interrupted by Kili, as the younger one scooted even closer, having his face only centimeters away from the other, pointing to a few nearly invisible hairs growing on his chin.

“Oh, I see now! That is great news, Kili!” Fili shouted wrapping his brother up in a tight hug that would later end in a wrestling match between the two.

He could not help but be proud over his brother - he would not forget all the time that Kili had spent crying and wishing he had a beard, since he was already older than Fili was when he had first gotten his whiskers and still nothing had appeared. Thorin would tell his younger nephew that the day would come, but Kili was always a bit impatient. Dwalin had joked around, telling Kili that he’d probably never get a beard, and that had scared the young dwarf to no end.

“We thought I would never grow one, but I did! Well...I will.” Kili proudly rubbed his ‘beard’ with his hand, not disappointed at how little it had grown but rather happy that it was finally happening. “Soon, I’ll have a beard worthy of a prince!”

“Yes, imagine, a proper beard of your own! How the ladies will stare at you, dear brother,” Fili said, still holding his brother close.


	2. 17 years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin is - as stated before - not stupid. He sees right through Fili.

Fili raised his hand, and the tool in it, to his face. He held his other hand there as well, using it to measure how much to cut off. It was tricky to trim his beard without an actual mirror, instead he had to look at his reflection in the water. Parts of his beard - very small parts at a time - fell into the water before him, and he held his breath to make it as even as possible.

“Lad, what’re ye doing?” a voice rumbled behind Fili.

His hand shook in surprise and he gave himself a small cut reaching from his nose to his ear. Cursing under his breath, he turned his head to see who had disturbed his shaving, and found a bald, muscular dwarf staring back at him, arms crossed over his chest.

Fili froze. “Dwalin.”

Any dwarf would’ve been bad - or rather, anyone at all would’ve been bad. Fili would rather have found himself having imagined the voice. The fact that it was Dwalin was not better or worse than any other dwarf.

“Aye, that is my name,” the older one said, arms still crossed.

His face twisted in a grimace, Fili turned back to the water to inspect the wound on his cheek. Noticeable, definitely. Kili would wonder. Fili could never lie to Kili, but he could refuse to tell his brother the truth.

Dwalin growled impatiently. “Lad?”

“What?” Fili asked with a growl similar to Dwalin’s, and begun washing away the blood from his cheek.

Fili felt a large hand on his shoulder.  
“Are you shaving yer beard?” Dwalin mumbled in his ear, his tone serious, but with a mocking grin on his face.

The young dwarf muttered something and tried to wriggle out of Dwalin’s grip, but he could not, and so he stayed in place and continued to stare at the water.

“What’s that, laddie?”

Feeling rather uncomfortable with the whole situation, Fili turned and repeated what he’d said.  
“I don’t want Kili to feel bad because he can’t grow one...”

“So yer shaving yours? Ye should be ashamed, really.”

With those words, Dwalin turned his heel and left with a wide smile on his face, chuckling slightly at what he’d just seen, and much too late did Fili realize that he had not asked to keep it a secret. He quickly picked up his things, stuffing them into his bag and ran after Dwalin, praying he wouldn’t have told anyone by the time Fili caught up with him.  
Short of breath, Fili reached the camp and found that everyone was staring at him rather curiously. Bofur and Nori - both sitting with their backs turned to Fili - turned around to see what was going on, and Ori looked up from his book. For a second, he thought Dwalin had told them, but as everyone else happened to be looking at the young dwarf prince, Dwalin discreetly tapped the side of his nose and winked with a toothy grin.

Fili’s secret would be safe with him.


End file.
